(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Preview: Railways, grain shippers at loggerheads over interswitching

Pilot to test expanded radius deemed unnecessary by both sides

Recent legislation has raised the stakes in a decade-long battle between the railways and Canadian grain shippers over the interswitching radius. Interswitching refers to a regulation to ensure shippers located where only a single railway operates can access points that are not served by that railway. The issue is especially concerning for Canadian grain shippers […] Read more

(File photo by Lorraine Stevenson)

Elevators hope mandatory vaccination doesn’t disrupt operations

New regulations will require all federally regulated employees to comply early in 2022

Canada’s major companies hope their operations won’t be disrupted when Ottawa requires federally regulated employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 starting early in 2022. “It depends on whether employees that aren’t vaccinated will get vaccinated, or would they leave their jobs,” Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) said in an interview […] Read more


(PortOfHalifax.ca)

Ottawa expected to ‘officially’ declare ag an essential service

The Western Grain Elevator Association says that designation will clarify things and help to keep grain moving

Canada’s grain industry expects the federal government will soon officially declare agriculture an essential service. Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA), says that designation will have a practical application. “Hopefully it ends all confusion about grain workers at elevators, railway workers and anybody else required for moving grain, as to […] Read more

A freighter is loaded with grain from a terminal at Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. (Maxvis/iStock/Getty Images)

Handlers focus on keeping grain moving despite COVID-19

Grain companies, Canadian Grain Commission working but unsure of future

Canada’s grain companies are committed to keeping grain moving to domestic and export customers, but how the spread of COVID-19 might affect business is still an unknown, says Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association. “We are are going to do everything in our power to keep grain moving at this time,” […] Read more


Grain being loaded on a ship at the Hudson Bay port of Churchill in 2015. Former owner OmniTrax shut down the port facility before the 2016 shipping season began. (CNS Canada photo by Jade Markus)

Grain firms warn of competitive fairness on Churchill assistance

CNS Canada — The Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) wants assurances that any government incentives used to upgrade the rail line to Churchill, Man., and the port there are not used to support competing businesses. Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the WGEA, said the organization’s membership of major grain-handling companies are concerned their competitors could […] Read more



Photo: File/Allan Dawson

Grain elevators applaud the Parliamentary Committee’s rail recommendations

The Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) has added its voice to grain industry organizations praising a report from the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities on rail transportation affecting grain shippers. Recommendations in the report broadly encompass the adjustments required to the Canada Transportation Act to ensure the Canadian economy prospers in the long […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Railways urge Ottawa to loosen grain hauling rules

Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s big railways are pressing Ottawa to loosen rules around hauling the country’s crops — changes they say would improve efficiency but that farmers fear would weaken their bargaining power. A February report recommended that Ottawa institutes transportation system changes, including phasing out a 16-year-old cap on revenue that Canadian National […] Read more